Recently, a new club has been taking Benson Polytechnic by storm. The Ping Pong Club, which just had its first meeting on September 23rd, already has nearly a dozen members showing up to each meeting. While some of this popularity could be marked up to the club’s novelty, it is undeniable that students are rapidly taking an interest.
Ping Pong club’s early history was troubled, initially being started last year in the Computer Science room with a “table” consisting of pencils taped to the sides of a desk. Even back then, Senior Jahangir Huseynov, the founder of the club, spoke about possibly growing it into an official club in the 25-26 school year. After some final difficulties with transporting the table and filing the official club paperwork, Huseynov received an offer from Mr. Hotchkiss about sponsoring the club and holding meetings in his classroom. Even before Club Fair, the club had over a dozen attendees, only increasing in numbers afterwards.
After the Club Fair rush, attendance started to drop off. Since there were only two tables, people had to go through a long line before getting to play. After those first meetings with nearly two dozen people, Jahangir shared that, “We have the perfect amount of people now. People can play one-on-one at both tables without sitting in a line.” Although they wish they could have more members, fundraising is difficult, and the extra equipment can be very expensive.
“Our only goal is to get better at the game and have fun,” Huseynov says. Most other sports clubs have high barriers to entry, and they expect members to attend big competitive tournaments, but Ping Pong Club aims to be much more casual. “It might be fun, but the people at the local events are really, really good.”
